A teenage suicide bomber has killed twelve persons including his father in a mosque in Gamboru town in Gamboru-Ngala Local Government Area of Borno in the early hours of Wednesday.

It was learnt that many other worshippers were injured and have been rushed to the nearest hospital for treatment in an incident that occurred at about 5:00am.

The teenage male suicide bomber detonated an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), strapped to his body in a mosque at Yobe area of Gamboru, near Nigeria’s border with Cameroon, during dawn prayers, said Ali Mustapha, an aid worker.

“I was on my way to dawn prayer, then I heard the sound of a loud bomb explosion inside the mosque,” Mustapha told Reuters.

“The mosque was destroyed and burnt,” he said. “After some hours, when we came to evacuation of the people, we saw 11 corpses, with the suicide bomber making (the total number of dead) 12.”

However, the Theatre Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole, Major General Rogers Nicholas, who confirmed the attack to NAN in Maiduguri, said that five persons were killed in the attack as against the 12 earlier reported.

He added that the troops had also neutralized a suicide bomber at Rann, headquarters of Kala-Balge local government area.

“Yes, but only five killed and another suicide bomber neutralized in Rann”.

In his own narration, Lawan Abba, a resident of Gamboru, disclosed that 10 persons were killed and six others sustained injuries in the attack.

Abba disclosed that the suicide bomber sneaked into a crowded mosque while people gathered to observe Morning Prayer and detonated the explosive.

He revealed that the teenage suicide bomber hailed from Gamboru town, adding that the father to the assailant was among the 10 persons, who lost their lives in the attack.

“The suicide bomber hailed from Gamboru town, he disowned his parents and joined the insurgents in the bush.

“He entered the mosque blew up himself into pieces and killed 10 persons including his biological father,” he said.

Abba added that the wounded persons were referred to the clinic in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in the area for treatment.

Nobody claimed responsibility for the attack, but it bears the hallmarks of Boko Haram, a jihadist group which frequently uses suicide bombers, often women and girls, to attack crowded public spaces such as mosques and markets.

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